Archives for November 2015

I am finding myself with seasonal bloat. My lists are too long, needs of the family are many and the holiday invites are dotting the calendar. I am running around but not to the studio. My mind is full of those “sugar plumy” things and ideas for painting are few and far between. Nothing is capturing my attention, let alone my imagination. Yes, I did get a card designed for Christmas but that was more painting for a specific purpose with constraints and boundaries.

I am missing the experimenting, messy and frenzy work. Not knowing where I am going with a painting, surprises, and delight. I am missing “learning by doing.” Staring at a white sheet of blank watercolor paper is not fun. My friends tell me that this is actually part of the creative process.

Common causes of artist block include:

Timing: It is simply not the right time to paint. Maybe ideas I have may need to stew before I paint them.

Fear: Putting ideas (and themselves) out there for everyone to see and critique is risky.

Perfectionism: I want everything to be just right before I even put my brush to the paper. I want it perfect in my head before I begin and so I never begin.

Or as Jonathan Winters said, “I couldn’t wait for success, so I went ahead without it.”

So which is it? Maybe some of all three.

So today, I am just going to paint. The secret is not to beat myself up over my “Phase”. So off to the studio I will go today, remembering to paint anything, even if it is pure crap for it will keep the creative juices going.

Julia Cameron wrote, “Whenever you feel stymied, stuck or frantic, remind yourself, this is the result of having too many good ideas-even if it feels like you have no ideas at all…”

I was involved with an professional development workshop for Northern Minnesota educators this week. The topic of Fixed/Growth Mindset was introduced. As I listened I found my brain wandering off to how fixed mindset and growth mindset impact my work in the studio. As I dug into this topic even more this week I realized a key point is if I want to expand a growth mindset within myself focus needs to be on two things: what I value as a learner and beliefs I have towards learning.

I have read a lot about growth mindset. I thought I would spend time in today’s blog to synthesize what I have had read around the characteristics of fixed and growth mindset. It all leads to some reflective questions for self-awareness.

Characteristic #1: Skills and Intelligence

People with a fixed mindset believe that their skills and intelligence are set and you either have them, or you don’t. It is the Popeye statement, “I yam what I yam!” They don’t really believe in their ability to learn and improve at things. People with a growth mindset do. They believe that skills and intelligence are grown and developed.

When someone with a fixed mindset sees a talented performer, they think: “wow that person is really great – she is so lucky to be so talented!”

When someone with a growth mindset sees a talented performer, they think: “wow that person is really great – she must have worked really hard to get that good!

Characteristic #2: Main Concern/Main Focus

The research is pretty clear here. In most any situation people with a fixed mindset focus their attention on how they look. Whether they’re singing in the choir, taking a test, or playing volleyball they are worried about what others think. And they are focused on showing everyone how smart and talented they are. “I am what I accomplish.”

People with a growth mindset are different. While they may want to win and want to look good – they’re main focus and main concern (in any situation) is the process of learning, growing, and getting better. “How I perform is mostly a reflection of my process. I can always change and improve my process”

They frame a performance as a way to test and experiment with their process. So a failure is an opportunity to learn and will help them improve process for next time.

Characteristic #3: Effort

People with a fixed mindset see effort as a negative thing, as something that people do when they’re not good enough. They believe that skills and abilities are set and are NOT grown and developed. Therefore, working hard and putting in effort is something that the less intelligent and less talented have to do.

People with a growth mindset believe that skills and intelligence are grown and developed and that effort is one of the key ingredients.

Characteristic #4: Challenges

When they’re met with a challenge, when stuff gets hard, and the wheels start to fall off – people with a fixed mindset tend to give up and check out…

They don’t believe in their ability to learn and grow and if they can’t figure something out right away they really don’t see the point of working through it – so they quit.They don’t want to look bad and are worried about what others will think – so they quit. They don’t want to put in the effort/don’t see the point of putting in effort – so they quit. Does this describe any students you have?

As we all know, challenges usually involve some stumbles, some effort, and some perseverance – all of which someone with a fixed mindset resists. Of course they’re going to quit when they’re met with one.

People with a growth mindset have been shown to be more likely to persevere and display grit when they’re met with a challenge. They believe in their ability to learn, grow, and develop. AND that is what they value. This mindset gives a purpose to the challenge and fuels them to work through it.

Characteristic #5: Feedback

People with a fixed mindset get defensive and take feedback very personally.

In the eyes of someone with a fixed mindset feedback equals someone discovered their shortcomings and someone is attacking them personally. The fixed mindset student will get heated, deflect it, come up with a hundred reasons why it wasn’t their fault, and then go tell his friends how stupid the teacher is.

People with a growth mindset love feedback because they see it as a useful tool to help improve their process. Dylan Wilim has some interesting thoughts on giving feedback for learning

Characteristic #6: Mistakes

By now this should be pretty obvious but I’ll say it anyway…

People with a fixed mindset HATE mistakes, they DREAD mistakes, and avoid any situation where they might make mistakes.

People with a growth mindset understand that mistakes are necessary and they treat them as learning opportunities.

To wrap it up today I found that I had some ideas for questions for my own self awareness and reflection:

How do I respond when I’m challenged, both inwardly and outwardly?

Which resources and strategies do I tend to favor, and which do I tend to ignore?

What can I do to make myself more aware of my own thinking and emotions?

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust

I spent the last two weeks traveling through Bavaria and extended days in Budapest and Prague. It was quite a trip.

This has been the first time that I have committed to using a sketchbook as I traveled. I made a personal commitment to record each day. We were traveling with another couple and we had a full schedule. Between the tours, exploring on our own, and wonderful meals when would I find time for my sketchbook?

I packed a sketching kit that included a drawing pencil, kneaded eraser, micron pens, watercolor pencils, a couple of small brushes, glue stick and scissors. This all fit into a ziplock bag. I prepped each of my sketchbook pages with the date, a spot to record the weather condition for the day. My sketchbook preparation also included decorative or painted designs along the edge(s) of the sketchbook page. It was a great way to use some of my old paintings, collected papers and other ephemeral objects from my days of doing altered books. With this preparation of a selection of materials and a start to each page I was hoping time for drawing would be easy, and it was!

As I walked through the day I noticed that I used my eyes for not only soaking in the vistas but also looking for small details that could be sketched. The decorative manhole cover in a plaza, the edge of an architectural detail, the curves in an illuminated letter from a medieval manuscript, the hat of a Bavarian woman all became the drawings of the day.

When I was rushed I added map sections, tickets and souvenirs. I filled some of the white space by writing commentary about how I felt, thought about, the smells and thoughts about places. My comments were short as I wanted to focus on visual thoughts not narrative text. Using my sketchbook I found myself free from needing to create something to be hung on a wall, I could geek out and experiment.

As I drew each day I appreciated what Marcel Proust wrote, “discovering with new eyes.” I saw the places we traveled as a tourist and then with new eyes as a chronicler for the sketchbook.

I found these great websites with travel sketchbooks from other artists. They provide a lot of inspiration to see each day as a travel adventure. I do not need to seek new landscapes far away from my home!